From the Peoria County Communications Office
This September the Peoria City/County Health Department joins the community to mark the ten year anniversary of 9/11 and asks you to take time to remember those lost as well as time to make sure you are prepared for future emergencies. September is National Preparedness Month (NPM), which was founded after 9/11 to increase preparedness in the U.S. It is a time to prepare yourself and those in your care for an unexpected emergency.
If you’ve seen the news recently, you know that emergencies can happen unexpectedly in communities just like yours, to people just like you. We’ve seen tornados and hurricanes, river floods and flash floods, historic earthquakes and tsunamis, and even water main breaks and power outages in U.S. cities affecting millions of people for days at a time.
This September, prepare and plan for any event where you must go for three days without electricity, water service, and access to a supermarket, or local services for several days. Just follow these three steps:
1. Get a Kit: Keep enough emergency supplies on hand for you and those in your care – water, non-perishable food, first aid, prescriptions, flashlight, battery-powered radio.
2. Make a Plan: Discuss, agree on, and document an emergency plan with those in your care. Work together with neighbors, colleagues and others to build community resilience.
3. Be Informed: Contact the Peoria City/County Health Dept to get essential information on specific hazards to your area, local plans for shelter and evacuation, ways to get information before and during an emergency.
Police, fire and rescue may not always be able to reach you quickly, such as if trees and power lines are down or if they are overwhelmed by demand from an emergency. The most important step you can take in helping your local responders is being able to take care of yourself and those in your care; the more people who are prepared, the quicker the community will recover.
For more information about Public Health Preparedness, making an Emergency Kit, or other important Public Health issues call the Peoria City/County Health Department at 679-6600 or visit our website at www.pcchd.org .